1. Field of the Invention
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/389,147 filed on Oct. 1, 2010 and incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
The present invention relates to safety devices. More particularly the disclosed device relates to door-engageable guards for preventing injuries such as those occurring when fingers are injured between a closing door and the jamb.
2. Prior Art
It is a sad fact of modern living that most children and even adults have at some point in their life injured a finger in the jamb of a closing door. For large and heavy doors, the closing door can become an almost unstoppable swinging lever arm with immense crushing power. These accidents can be extremely painful and can break bones and can actually sever fingers.
Conventional guards are known to help prevent fingers from entering the gap between the hinged edge of the door and the door jamb. However, efforts to date to prevent the crushing of fingers positioned between the door on the latch side, and the jamb have been less than successful. Often, if in a hurry, one will close a door by simply grabbing the edge of the door and swinging it closed behind them as they pass through. This inattention to a common task greatly increases the chance of a finger getting caught between the closing door and the jamb. Similarly, for sliding doors with no knob present, one may similarly grab the edge of the door and slide the door into the closed position with fingers directly in the path of the crushing force of the sliding door.
As such, there is a continuing unmet need for a cost effective and easily engaged device that provides protection for fingers positioned between the jamb and the latch side of closing doors. Such a device should be easily mounted and if disengageable, should preferably default to a protective position.